


imaginary friends (and other supernatural tales)

by falloutboyz



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, kids are mean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 19:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18105338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutboyz/pseuds/falloutboyz
Summary: A deep dive into Mulder’s childhood.





	imaginary friends (and other supernatural tales)

**Author's Note:**

> cw for blood

“What kind of name is Fox? Are you an animal? Can you walk on four legs for us, Fox?” “Yeah Fox, c’mon, show us.”

The words, and the embarrassing scene that followed it, seemed stuck on rewind in Fox’s mind. For the rest of the school day, he kept thinking about how much he wanted to kick those boys in the shins. Or maybe, in all honesty, how much he wanted to cry like a little girl.

At the end of the school day, him and Samantha always met up and walked home together. Usually, that involved a fun eight-minute long timeframe of him teasing her, or them chasing each other the whole way home. But today, Fox barely acknowledged her presence. When Samantha came to greet him, he made no response and stood looking glumly at the ground. Samantha seemed to sense he was upset, and they walked home together in silence.

Once Fox got home, he dropped off his backpack inside, and promptly dashed out into the backyard. He thinks maybe his mother or Samantha shouted something after him, but he didn’t hear it. He didn’t really care anyways. He needed to be alone.

He ran to the farthest reaches of their backyard, where the canopy of trees was thick enough to hide the unmanly display he was about to fall into. He collapsed in on himself, buckling his knees, hands coming up into his face. Tears started to pour down his cheeks. Like a fucking little girl.

He nudged himself up to sit on top of a large tree trunk, curling himself into a ball and muffling his sobs in his sweater. He rocked himself in place, trying to will himself to stop crying. His father would call him a pansy. The thought made him swim with more tears.

He looked down at the thick tree trunk below him, and began counting the layers between heavy breaths. He remembered when his Dad chopped down the tree trunk he sat on. Exactly one year ago, he noted. He only knows this because he etched the date on the top of the trunk, 4.26.1969. Like a tombstone.

His memory of that day was vivid in his mind. Samantha and him watched together as Dad axed the tree down with fervor. His father’s wrath, decidedly showing itself to the light of day. He imagined blood pouring out of the tree, slowly staining their backyard in its wake. Crimson pooling itself down to their house, covering Samantha as she shrieked in terror. The intrusive image made him sharply look away. He distracted himself by teasing Samantha for crying.

Later on, him and Samantha would host a funeral for the tree together. Using his father’s swiss army knife, he would somberly etch the date on top of the trunk. Just for her.

“What are you crying about, Fox?”

He looked up from his memory trance, expecting to see Samantha there, but instead he saw a different young girl standing in front of him. She looked like an angel from heaven. She had long ginger hair, waving down to her waist. She wore a formal white dress, the kind one might wear to church on Sundays. She looked beautiful.

“Who are you?” he cracked, wonder evident in his voice.

“What are you crying about, Fox?” she repeated, stepping closer to him. Her soft eyes seemed weighty, concerned. He wasn’t used to people giving him that look. He thinks maybe Samantha did sometimes. Maybe it was a girl thing.

“It’s stupid,” Fox mumbled.

“How can it be stupid? You’re crying?” she said, shaking her head. She seemed to wisp in the wind, glowed by an overall lightness. Maybe she really was an angel. He sighed.

“The boys at school made fun of my name,” he said, avoiding eye contact.

“That is stupid. No one should ever be made fun of for their name. They’re a bunch of pricks,” she said, huffing.

“Yeah, they are,” Fox agreed. Her presence seemed to practically smother all his cries. He suddenly felt silly, acting like such a baby in front of this pretty girl - whoever she was.

“Besides, Fox is a nice name,” she said. Fox gaped at her. She smiled shyly.

“What’s your name?” he asked after a moment.

“Whatever you want it to be,” she smiled.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“What about Lynx? That way I’m just like you, another four-legged animal,” she grinned.

“Lynx. I like that.”

“Me too. So Fox, do you want to play hide and seek with me?”

**Author's Note:**

> I am not much of a writer (you can tell, right?), but I found myself writing this last night. I'm likely going to make this something chaptered that follows with the rest of Mulder's childhood, adolescence, and onwards, so if you liked it - stay tuned!


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